Breaking news

Many Broughton residents have long been intrigued about the interior of the former 'Gentlemen's Club' at 51–3 East Claremont Street. Many others know exactly what it was like but for reasons of their own feel unable to give details.

Spurtle can now shed a little light, thanks to floorplans and elevations put before City planning officials by developers wishing to convert the property into 3 flats (Ref. 10/01911/FUL). Click on the pdf below.

More in Issue 185 (out on 1 August).

Can any readers tell us more about Margaret 'Peggy' Desmond, an actress, local celebrity, and resident of the former Broughton Court on East London Street (adjacent to St Mary's Primary School)?

We are chasing shadows at present, but believe she may have appeared in Glasgow pantomimes or music hall before the Second World War.

All information gratefully received.

When Spurtle reader Ian Mountford passed through St Mark's Park first thing this morning, he soon realised something was wrong. The Antony Gormley sculpture in the Water of Leith which he had passed at 6.00pm the previous evening was gone.

He emailed us the startling news and we contacted the National Galleries of Scotland. There, a surprisingly calm spokeswoman said that the Gormley in Bonnington had disappeared too, but there was no concern for alarm.

We may all be going to economic hell in a financial handcart, but at least hard-pressed Edinburgh City Libraries are continuing to market some excellent services excellently.

Their latest initiative highlights how anyone with a library card can access free information about around 8,000 grants and charitable foundations.

The woeful state of Edinburgh Evening News journalism was apparent in today's page 8 article 'City wheels out plans for bins across New Town'.

By astonishing coincidence, Victoria Raimes's piece matched – in some cases almost verbatim – the earlier 'Exclusive' article by Brian Donnelly on page 5 of today's Herald newspaper.

The Save Glenogle Baths campaign has delivered its last email update, and is to wind up shortly.
It has secured its aims of ensuring that the pool be conserved and maintained, and that the adjacent open space – 'the Snakey' – remain a public open space free from development.

In a gracious farewell, campaign Secretary Linda Wilson alliteratively thanked the committee, local councillors, City Council, contractors, Sport Scotland and Edinburgh Leisure, and the public.

'People power works,' she writes, 'and you helped us prove it'.

Blenheim Place was briefly cut off on Friday 9 May, but not as – first thought – by freak weather conditions.

The evening disruption was due to filming of the new John Lewis Christmas TV advertisement. False snow was liberally slathered as far as the camera could see in scenes reminiscent of Edinburgh last January and February.

Any locals who managed to photograph the filming are invited to share their images with the Spurtle.

Edinburgh landlords who first registered themselves as such in 2006 should sign up again in the next few months.

Under the Scottish Landlords Registration scheme, private landlords must log their details with City of Edinburgh Council once every 3 years. Around 12,000 landlords will have to re-register before the end of the year.

Registration costs £55 and £11 per property. Late re-registering applications will incur an additional £110 fee. (These sums are national ones set by the Scottish Government.)

Some readers have expressed concern at the non-appearance of our customary page-4 cartoon in Issue 184. They wonder if the much-feted 'MF' has been moved on or frozen out.

They need not make a fuss. MF is alive and well and very much still part of Spurtle. He was temporarily sidelined thanks to an editor made forgetful by the demands of paid work and impending holidays.

Normal service will be resumed shortly.  

Three very motivated and high-achieving students from an Italian secondary school will be studying at Drummond CHS next term, and require host families with whom to stay.

The girls come from Liceo Scientifico 'G.Ferrari', a high school for science located in Borgosesia in north-western Italy, and will be studying in Broughton from the end of August to the start of the Christmas holidays this year.